FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It had been a slow, boring shift in a slow, boring day.

Jerrett hated hating his job, mostly because he was his own employee and his own boss. In another words, he owned his workplace.

And he was rather proud of his bar and the way he'd placed every single piece of furniture - except the lamp by the corner, that one always made him feel slightly annoyed for some unknown reason - but sometimes he'd gladly swap his job with any of his friends. Especially when it came to paying bills.

He was fortunate to enjoy it, most of the time. Getting bored was just a thing of days like those, in which nobody showed up during the last few hours. His bar closed at ten o'clock, but people usually stopped coming after nine. It wasn't near the town's center or a big party zone, so that's how it was.

Suppressing a yawn, the fox took a look at his wristwatch and sighed. It was another ten minutes before he had to even consider closing the place. He knew a stoat named Dilan, who was one of his employees, usually locked the door five minutes before ten and he didn't judge them for that. It wasn't like they were missing any clients anyway, but being his own boss and everything meant he wanted to set an example with the way he worked - which sometimes felt like setting a trap and then stepping right into it.

Suppressing the yawn any longer was pointless so Jerrett yawned anyway.

He heard the door opening in the middle of his yawn and stood up, trying to give a false impression of being alert and attentive. His eyes moved to the door and met an intriguing pair of yellow eyes that seemed to look at him almost as if he was invisible - and then again, like they were staring intently right into his soul.

The confusing gaze belonged to a horned sea dragon that stood near the entrance for a few seconds longer than necessary, as if basking in Jerrett's attention. Slender tendrils that at first Jerrett mistook for hair hung from his head and there was a golden chain around his neck. Finally, as if he'd been counting down the seconds he could allow himself to remain there, the dragon moved from the door and walked straight to the counter.

"Not too late, is it?" the dragon asked.

Jerrett wanted to say it was, but then again - stepping into his own trap.

"Still a few minutes left before we close," he answered with a smile. "What do you want?"

The dragon walked to one of the stools, sat down and smirked.

"More than a few minutes, that's for sure."

"Excuse me?"

Jerrett was certain he hadn't caught those last few words - or at least, he wanted to believe he hadn't.

"My name is Cay," the dragon introduced himself, confusing Jerrett yet again.

"Nice to meet you."

"Now tell me your name."

The fox had been placing some glasses under the counter and looked up just to see the dragon grinning, his pointy teeth flashing under the lights. For some reason, he had a bad feeling about the whole situation. None of his costumers tended to be so talkative... or rude.

"It's Jerrett," the fox answered.

"Oh. Like Garett, only completely different?"

"I suppose."

"That's odd."

Jerrett had a history of having too much patience. He hated conflict and that was why he was partially willing to let things be when it came to customers behaving inappropriately, as long as they didn't bother any other customers. Somebody had paid one or two cents less for the sake of convenience without even letting him know? Well, he could look the other way just to avoid the fuss.

"It is what it is," he said with a smile, trying to de-escalate the situation. Perhaps the dragon had simply had a bad day. Even if that wasn't the case, it would help Jerrett and the dragon to take his order as soon as possible. "What can I get for you?"

Cay didn't answer immediately. His claws tapped rhythmically on the table, causing Jerrett's gaze to lower down for a second - then rise up again to meet that intriguing yellow gaze.

"You mean what I want?" the dragon asked, as if trying to make sure.

Jerrett still had a bad feeling, but decided to go with the flow. At this point, he'd have to close the bar before the dragon had even ordered.

"Yeah, sure."

Cay grinned. As unlikely as that was, Jerrett was beginning to think the dragon had just walked into the bar to make fun of him. Cay's next words confirmed his theory.

"You," the dragon said, "with a cute cherry on top."

"Wow, wait?"

Zap!

Something seemed to snap or crackle next to Jerrett's ear, which twitched involuntarily. The fox looked around, confused, and then turned to face Cay. The dragon was still grinning.

"What was that?" he asked. "Did you hear it?"

It didn't seem possible, but somehow Cay's grin got even wider. Jerrett found himself looking at those big, sharp teeth of his - and ignoring the fact that one of those tendrils was just lowering down, implying it must have been lifted at some point.

"Thunder, I presume."

"Thunder?" Jerrett held the dragon's enigmatic gaze and shook his head. "Sorry, what is it that you said? I got distracted with that noise."

"Does it matter if I tell you?" the dragon asked. "You're going to forget anyway."

"Forget?" Jerrett felt slightly embarrassed. "I-I mean, it only just happened, and only because I got distracted. Sorry about that again... Er... But you can tell me now."

Cay looked at him as if he was about to burst out laughing.

"Sure. A glass of water."

"Oh," Jerrett whispered, crouching to grab one of the glasses he'd just been placing.ç

A sudden thought assaulted his mind - had the dragon's order always been that simple? He could have sworn he'd ordered something more troublesome the first time, but...

He caught a glimpse of one of those tendrils getting dangerously close to his face.

"Hey, watch out?"

Zap!

Jerrett blinked and looked at the empty glass he was holding in his hand. What was he doing with that? He'd finished placing the glasses a few minutes ago. Why was he moving them now?

"I..." he murmured.

Cay chuckled.

"Will it take much longer? I'm getting bored."

"I'm... I'm sorry! I..."

Jerrett scratched the back of his head, confused. He what?

"You only got five minutes," Cay reminded him.

"What?"

"Five minutes. To closing time. You said so yourself," the dragon explained patiently. "You have a wristwatch. Why aren't you using it?"

Jerrett was too disoriented to talk back, so instead he raised his wrist and took a look at the time.

The dragon was right. It was five to?zap!?actually, three to?zzzap!?o'clock.

Jerret's body felt weird, like it had been standing for too long. His knees were all wobbly and his eyelids felt... not heavy, but weird. Like there was some kind of tension building around those muscles that he hadn't been aware of up until then. The same tension had been building behind his eyelids. It reached deep into his skull, as if it had infected his brain.

The time in his wristwatch meant something. Jerrett knew that. But what? He had been looking at it for a while, for a reason. The word "close" came to his mind but he couldn't put other words together to form a sentence. It was like the whole meaning of it had left his mind.

"H... huh?" he asked.

"You're not looking so good," the dragon sitting at the other side of the counter said then. "Come here. Sit next to me."

Jerrett knew the dragon had a name, but he also couldn't put a finger on it. That wasn't so alarming. He wasn't used to remembering... that. The thought derailed somewhere else before fading completely.

The dragon seemed to know what was going on, so Jerrett decided to do as he said. He walked around the counter and soot on a stool, facing him. A firm hand grabbed his chin and forced him to look straight into the dragon's eyes. Those tendrils floated in the air like the snakes of a Medusa.

"What is your name?" the dragon asked. He sounded instructive yet impatient, almost as if he was asking the question to a kid.

Jerrett blinked heavily. He could recall that, at least.

"Jerrett," he answered. Why would the dragon ask that?

_Zap!_Something tingled on his temple.

"What is your name."

The fox opened his mouth and closed it again. The gears in his brain were turning so slowly now that he could almost hear them. Thinking felt like walking through pudding.

"I don't know," he admitted.

"It's Garett," the dragon said.

"Garett?"

Zap!

...

This time, the fox was only brought to reality when the dragon gently slapped his face. His whole brain had been somewhere else if only for a second - where it'd been, the fox had no idea. The only reason why he hadn't dropped to the floor was because there was a strong hand keeping him in place, tough claws poking at his muzzle tentatively.

The dragon in front of him was grinning. Only his gaze, teeth and tendrils were visible from the fox's position.

"I just told you your name. Can you remember it now?"

The fox didn't want to remember it. He felt exhausted. There was something weird going on with his head. Thinking felt hard.

"I... don't," he found himself saying. His words felt detached from his thoughts - mostly because he wasn't even sure what the latter were. "It started with a G, right?"

"Right."

Zap!

"Is there a staff room here?"

"Uh..." the fox's tongue felt heavy. "A... what...?"

"Bah. Never mind."

Zap, zap, zap! For a second, the fox could have sworn his mouth was moving on its own, words coming out without his mind processing them. It felt like being a puppet, hanging from those tendrils. His eyes must have been open wide, judging by how tired his eyelids felt once he was released.

And then, the feeling and the memory were erased from his mind.

"That's much better. Stand up."

The fox did as he was told. At this point, he wasn't even sure there was a reason why he was following along. It simply happened. He could hear a low buzz in his head, like static electricity, filling every simple process that was supposed to be happening there. It stopped him from seeing inside of his head, but it felt extremely good.

It was like the feeling he'd get when his leg fell asleep - only it was happening inside his head.

"You don't know where you are," the dragon said as if it was obvious. "You don't know this place."

The fox nodded.

"But you will take me to the staff room."

Another nod. Both things weren't mutually exclusive somehow.

"I'm starting to see some progress now. Still..."

Those tendrils moved closer again. By now, the fox was used to being zapped, so he simply let them do as they pleased. The gentle electric shocks sent shivers down his spine as they changed things inside his head. This time, the fox didn't even hear the zapping sounds.

Just the pleasant static intensifying, barring everything else. His mouth moved on its own again, speaking unknown words as the tips of those voracious tendrils stroke his head again, and again, and again, and again...

...

Another gentle slap brought him back to reality. When his eyes opened, the first thing he saw was Master standing in front of him, arms crossed on his chest. It took the fox a few seconds to realize he had slumped on the counter, tongue lolling out. There was a small puddle of drool where he'd been lying on, but he paid no mind to it.

Master was talking.

"Time to move, slave," he said.

The last word echoed deeply in his static-filled mind.

"Yes, Master," Jerrett's body said. His mind wasn't there to take control of it anyway.

As he walked between the counters, obediently guiding Master towards the staff room, the clock struck eleven.